I’ve reviewed quite a few Glengoyne expressions on the blog, including a week I devoted to the entire core range earlier in 2015 (in order: 10, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 25). I also visited the distillery in early October, and enjoyed the single malt blending session I did as part of my tour, the report of said visit may be found here.
The 35 year old isn’t part of the core range of the distillery, rather is a limited edition of only 500 decanters of 70 centiliters. The whisky was distilled in the late 1970s, shortly after head stillman Duncan McNicol joined Glengoyne and was matured for 35 years in sherry casks. The whisky is presented in a regal decanter and box, and I’ll forgo a discussion on presentation versus substance in luxury whisky bottling, and will address this issue sometime in the future.
Now, let’s focus on the Glengoyne 35:
Glengoyne 35 Year Old (46.8% ABV, NC)
Appearance: Bronze, with thin legs running down with a lot of droplets on the glass.
Nose: Sweet sherry is the first thing that comes up to the nose with licorice and some dried orange peel. Milk chocolate, cream soda, nutmeg, and a sweet but light compote with golden raisins, golden delicious apples and apricots. There’s a certain freshness to the sweetness together with the depth.
Palate: Dusty in an old library way, with oaky bitterness and a milk chocolate dusted with wood spices. There’s a sweetness as it rolls around the mouth.
Linger: Sweet and fruity with wood spices, and some gentle spiciness all the way down the gullet and a tannic dryness on the inside of the cheeks and some Coca-Cola like sweetness left on the palate as well as sultana raisins for a long time.
Conclusion
This dram is really dignified. It’s very balanced, with quite a bit going on. One of the most notable thing about this older expression is that it isn’t too heavy on the oakiness, and is able to keep light and sweetish despite the third of the century it spent in a cask.
Thank you, Paul, for this gorgeous sample! Sláinte 🙂
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